Introducing my new Bookmarker app(s) for the Amazon Fire TV — Load websites in just one click from the home screen

I have just released a series of new Bookmarker apps for the Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire TV Edition televisions. They are simple apps that let you load a website in the Silk Browser with just a single click from the Fire TV home screen. Just save a URL in the app and every time you select that app in the future, the URL will immediately open in the Silk browser.

The purpose of these apps is to save you a few clicks when loading websites in the Silk Browser that you often visit. You can think of them as website shortcuts for the Fire TV home screen. Instead of having to load the Silk Browser, open the bookmark menu, find the website you want to load, and select it, you can save a few steps and get to the website with just one click from the Fire TV home screen. It also allows you to use Alexa, either through the Fire TV voice remote or an external Echo device, to load a website with your voice by saying “Alexa, launch Bookmarker [1-9].“

There are nine Bookmarker apps total and you can find them by searching for “bookmarker” on your Fire TV device. There are nine of them because each app stores and loads a single URL. I suppose I can create more if there is enough demand, but I figured that if someone needs quick access to more than 9 websites, they’re probably better off just using the bookmarking capabilities in the Silk Browser instead of trying to remember which Bookmarker app number corresponds to over 10 different websites.

The apps are all identical, apart from the name and icon. They are very simple because the idea is that once you configure them, you’ll never see their interface again. When you first load the app, you’ll see a text field and a save button. Just enter the URL you want the app to load into the text field and click the save button.

Once you’ve saved a URL in one of the Bookmarker apps, from that point forward, that URL will automatically be loaded in the Silk Browser whenever you launch that specific Bookmarker app. If you set up more than one of the Bookmarker apps, you’ll need to remember which Bookmarker number corresponds to which URL you configured. Unfortunately, it’s not possible for me to let users change the app’s icon or give the app a custom name in order to make it easier to remeber which Bookmarker app loads which URL.

If you need to change the URL that you’ve saved in one of the Bookmarker apps, you have to clear the app’s data and then open the app. To clear a Bookmarker app’s data, go to the Fire TV Settings screen and select: Applications > Manage Installed Applications > Bookmarker [1-9] > Clear data. Now, when you launch that Bookmarker app, you’ll see the interface that lets you save a new URL.

These Bookmaker apps require that you have the Silk Browser installed in order to work. They do not load websites inside the Bookmarker app itself. They are simply shortcuts that load the Silk Browser app. These Bookmarker apps are currently only available on the Fire TV 1, Fire TV 2, Fire TV Stick 2, and Fire TV Edition televisions because the Silk Browser is currently not available on the Fire TV 3 and Fire TV Stick 1. The Fire TV 3 is scheduled to receive the Silk Browser later in December. I’ll update my Bookmarker apps to support the Fire TV 3 when that happens.

If you’re wondering why I named the apps “Bookmarker [1-9]” instead of “Bookmark [1-9],” it’s because Alexa responds with “sorry, bookmarks are not supported yet” when you try to search for the word “bookmark,” and that made it difficult to use the apps by voice. On the plus side, the name Bookmarker better matches my Downloader app name.

I hope some of you find these Bookmarker apps useful. Of course, they are all free. If you appreciate my work and want to support me and these apps, you can become a patron through Patreon. Also, leaving a positive review for these apps would be greatly appreciated.

Bravo! I’m in the process of switching to an antenna. The first site I bookmarked in the Silk Browser was broadcast TV listings. In order to speed the process of getting to those listings (and making my wife happier) I just utilized Bookmarker. Works exactly as described!

Awesome. I know first hand that reducing even just 1 or 2 steps for spouses/parents/kids can go a long way to reduce pitfalls and headaches, so that was definitely one of my motivations for these apps.

Very cool idea, nice work. Just curious what are some cool examples people are using their browser for? I like that you can use your voice to trigger too. I have been using HULU a lot because I can use my echo in my living room to turn on the tv.

I love this, any plans to have a shared library of icons that can be injected to make it easier to keep which bookmark bookmarker is loading?

Suggested next phase….
I’m not a programmer at all but I would be glad to volunteer in any way I can, or just make a donation toward this following how about an app that brings up a list of bookmarks to go to?